Midsomer Murders - A Worm In The Bud [DVD]

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Most of the script is well written as "A worm in the bud" has a lot of colorful characters, compelling subplots and very tense solution that I didn't see coming. At Jonah's house, someone comes in and hits him over the head with a wrench. He falls to the floor. All the photos are removed and the place is set on fire.

Baranby and Troy go to speak to James Harrington. He immediately goes at them, "You've got a bloody cheek. Don't think you're going to get away with it. My woods, my timber - that's what the judge said." Barnaby says, "There is a police investigation going on in Setwale Wood. Nobody is allowed in until I'm satisfied the scene has been preserved and the evidence is safe. Mrs Bartlett's body was found in a pond in Setwale Wood this morning. She was dead. The wood belongs to you." James explains that he and Susan dated in their teens. Then he went away to college and she married Simon while he was gone. His wife, Caroline, knew eventually. Recently, Susan made a play for him. James realized he didn't want her. He wanted Caroline, his sons. James says he was in the pub when Susan was killed. He says aren't husbands at the top of the list of suspects? Barnaby says, "I may not know a lot about farming, but I'm very used to separating the sheep from the goats." Simon and Bernadette have words. Simon doesn't care about a court case against Harrington anymore. Bernadette says Simon will get Abbey Farm when this is all over. Ever since they've met Simon banged on about what you could do with more land. Bernadette says she can make that happen. Simon says, "Can't you wait till she's buried?" Bernadette retorts, "What is the period for abstaining from carnal knowledge of your mistress when your wife dies? If she'd walked out you'd have thrown a party. It's the same woman." Later that evening, someone lurks outside Victoria Bartlett's home. They watch her through her window. She turns out the lights. The lurker starts cutting flowers.However, as always, the production values are top notch, with to die for scenery, the idyllic look of it contrasting very well with the story's grimness, and quaint and atmospheric photography. The music fits perfectly, and the theme tune one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre. Julie spies the dog from the woods. Julie and Sean follow the dog. The barks and comes after them. Sean tosses him sausages. Jonah comes out and says no one comes here. he says, "I know who you are. You come again and I'll have you. You will know the winepress of the wrath of God." A Worm in the Bud" lulls in pacing in the middle with the-kids-playing-detectives not adding to the story as much as it could have done. Agreed also that the murders are on the bland side this time, in a show where they can be brutal and sometimes elaborate, and also on that it was an annoyance about not being given an explanation for why Susan wasn't killed straight after being made unconscious (if indicated in the episode, it was very vague to me). There are some untied endings at the end. For example, why was the first victim in the bushes six hours before she is found in the pond? That is never answered, though the murder mystery is built on this fact... A drunken James runs out of the pub in the rain. He drives past Victoria Bartlett and splashes her. He almost hits another car.

Barnaby and Troy discuss the case. Harrington was drunk when he got home. He wouldn't have noticed if his whiskey tasted a bit strange. And Susan Bartlett was taking pills, some with valerian in them. Small doses, but it wouldn't have been hard to substitute the concentrated stuff. Ms Sullivan confirms that Simon was with her. Harrington's life was insured for 400,000 pounds. Two policies paid for by his wife. Setwale Woods are owned by James Harrington, who is determined to start a forestry clearance, despite vocal opposition. Most vocal in opposition is local farmer Simon Bartlett and lawyer Bernadette Sullivan, with whom Bartlett is having an affair. Harrington and Bartlett get into a fight outside the court house and injudicious words are said. Some time later Susan Bartlett is found dead in a pond in the woods. Simon goes over to Bernadette's. He says, "I went to Abbey Farm last night. I didn't know someone was going to kill James. He wasn't even there. I'm frightened, Bernadette. I went to the farm. I went home. I was on my own. He could have been there dead when I was." Bernadette says, "Did anyone see you at Abbey Farm? No. Then you weren't there. And you weren't on your own, you spent the night with me. An alibi from an eminent barrister should even shut Barnaby up." Jonah makes a phone call to the police and reports that Simon Bartlett went to Harrington's farm and killed him. He also killed Susan Bartlett and he used the ATV to get her body into Setwale Wood.

One of the people that know about valerian locally is Jonah Bloxham. As Barnaby closes in on Bloxham, Bloxham is found in his blazing house. He is just about alive and taken to hospital. In his burnt out house Barnaby finds the remains of a photo of a child. Later he finds the remains of a similar photo on the bonfire of Victoria Bartlett, Simon Bartlett’s mother. Victoria Bartlett is not at here home, but the children have seen her being taken away at gun point by Hannah Harrington, James Harrington’s mother. Julie Fielding tells her brother, Sean Fielding a story.. " The children walked through the woods for hours and hours. The trees got bigger and bigger and it was getting dark. There was lots of thunder and animals made horrid rustling noises in the night - foxes and wolves and a huge big bear." Wendy Craig Victoria Bartlett is a character appearing in the episode A Worm in the Bud of the ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders. The mother of farmer Simon Bartlett, Victoria was desperate for him to conceive an heir to the Bartlett farming empire, as the family had been at the top of the game in Midsomer Worthy for generations. So desperate, in fact, that she resorted to murdering his wife, Susan. as she was unable to have children. She also murdered James Harrington after he witnessed her dumping Susan's body in Setwale Wood, which in turn led to Victoria herself being killed by her old friend Hannah Harrington.

Julie and Sean arrive at the Barnaby residence. "Is this where Chief Inspector Barnaby lives? We've come a long way on the bus about clues and everything," says Julie. Joyce invites them in. "Are you Mrs Inspector Barnaby?" asks Sean. "I'm ever so hungry." At court, the judge says, "I understand the feelings of the Midsomer Worthy community. Setwale Wood has been a place of recreation for generations. Children play there, people walk their dogs, picnic, and I'm sure all sorts of things. But none of that alters the fact that the land belongs to Mr Harrington. As for this long list of objections, nothing warrants an injunction to prevent Mr Harrington selling his wood, or Whitley Estates felling it." The audience sighs. Barnaby and Troy arrive. Troy tells Barnaby the deceased is Susan Bartlett, local farmer's wife. Sam says, "I pulled her out. I couldn't leave her in there. I knew there was nothing I could do for her. She must have been dead since yesterday afternoon. My daughter saw the body. We didn't believe her. But not in the pond. Somewhere in the bushes. I just thought it was one of her stories." James' body is found dumped in a pond in Setwale Wood. Hannah Harrington identifies James' body. "Yes, that's James, my son. You won't need a doctor to pronounce him dead... I'll be in the yard. George is still alive. At least we might be able to save him." George is the dog. Barney and Troy go to interview Bernadette. She immediately says, "Simon Bartlett is my client. I'd like to know precisely why he's been arrested." Barnaby says, "You're under a misapprehension as to why you're here. You provided Simon Bartlett with a false alibi for the night of James Harrington's death. You won't need legal advice from me to understand the implications of that."

Julie digs around in her mother's garden. She watches Victoria Bartlett next door. Julie goes over to speak to Victoria. Her mom, Denise Fielding, watches her and talks to her husband, Sam Fielding. "She's doing it again. Victoria Bartlett, garden inspection. Every time she tells me how well it's doing she means 'must try harder'." She adds, "Julie's still sulking. She normally forgets these stories after five minutes. I've got to exercise the hounds so she can come with me. I'll go up where they were playing, have a look."

Bernadette Sullivan, Simon's lawyer, goes through papers on her desk. Simon Bartlett comes downstairs putting his shirt on. Bernadette plans to use old English Common law to argue a new case against James.James is at a phone booth at night making a call. "Hi, how's it going? Shut up. I'll tell you when I see you. Don't keep me waiting. Any trouble and you know what's going to happen." Simon goes to James house at night and yells for him and blasts his horn. No answer from James. Barnaby interviews Bernadette. She says Simon was with her. They were having an affair. Bernadette says Susan was depressed. Victoria overhears Simon calling Bernadette. She tells him, "If there's anything you can do to stop people believing her suicide was your fault, you should do it. I know you didn't have much time for her in life lately, but I'd like to think that in death you can do something more decent than rush off into the arms of your mistress." Simon starts to cry. The people of Midsomer Worthy are attempting to keep James Harrington from razing Setwale Woods and turning it into housing. This apparently means that the farm owned by Simon Bartlett will be lost. He teams up with an attorney, Bernadette Sullivan, to stop Harrington. In fact, they team up in more ways than one. When two children report a body in Setwale Woods, no one believes them until their father sees it, now in a different place. The body is that of Simon's wife, Catherine, an unhappy woman who left a suicide note. It's later determined to be murder. Then there's another murder. So who's doing the killing, and why? In this episode, Barnaby gets some crucial help from the brother and sister, whose parents are tearing their hair out with worry. There is a big hole in this script, which is that no one ever says why the Bartlett farm will be lost if the housing development goes up. Harrington could not have forced Bartlett to sell his farm, yet there seems to be a great deal of angst about holding onto it.